Horse breeders use tech to save the Suffolk Punch

Fertility technology is being introduced to help bring a breed of horse back from the brink of extinction.

There are fewer than 300 Suffolk Punch in the UK, which often have to be transported long distances for breeding.

The Suffolk Punch Trust hopes a fake mare called Bess and artificial insemination will help boost numbers.

President of the Rare Breed Survival Trust Jimmy Doherty, whose farm has two pregnant punches, said: "It allows you to keep the gene pool wide as you can use semen that has been stored for years and you don’t have to take the horses across the county, you can get it from one location."

28 October 2021